Sales of juice-containing foods, particularly meats, packaged in individual trays are common in supermarkets, grocery stores, and delicatessens. It is common to package such foods in solid polymer pouches and bags, solid polymer trays, laminated solid polymer trays, open and closed cell polymer foam trays and laminated open and closed cell polymer foam trays. The gaseous atmosphere within these different tray-packaging systems can be varied to extend the shelf life of the juice containing products. Examples of several different packaging methods are described in United States patents or published applications U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,602,590, 6,248,380, 5,989,613, 4,642,239, 3,574,642, 20030108643A1, W003076299A1; and European patent EP0729900B1. The disclosures of each of these patents or published applications is incorporated herein by reference.
While these various packaging systems provide various degrees of shelf life extension, all of these packaging systems require a means to absorb juices contained in the food product. One popular choice for a food packaging tray is a foamed polymer tray since such foam trays are lightweight, structurally strong, inexpensive, and sanitary. Such containers also are shaped to be nested closely to each other, so that a large number of containers can be shipped in a small volume shipping box.
However, while such foam trays are effective at containing juices leaked from meat held therein, if maintained in a substantially level orientation, they are not suitable for absorbing leaked juices. Such foam trays are typically made from closed-cell polymer foam, which is not wet by water and water-based juices. In addition, there is no pathway for juices to enter the void volume of the cells of such polymer foam, as the cells are closed and impermeable to water.
Absorbent open cell polymer foams are known, but a food tray formed of such open cell foam is unsatisfactory, because juices will leak through the foam wall, discolor the inside of the tray and escape from the container, and also, such open cell foam is not as structurally strong as closed cell foam. Alternatively, the practice of placing an absorbent fabric pad between the foam tray and the meat is practiced, but such practice is also unsatisfactory. Examples of such absorbent pads comprising fabric and/or fibers are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,895 of Larsonneur et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,278,371 of Hopkins, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. When customers examine and inspect the meat by holding and manipulating the tray, such meat may slide within the tray, and the proper orientation of the pad and the meat may be disrupted. Additionally these fabric pads release absorbed juices when subjected to physical pressure by the consumer and so do not provide for a consumer acceptable product.
There is also the practice of simply packaging meat in such closed cell trays with no absorptive pad, but such practice is also unsatisfactory. When customers examine and inspect the meat by holding and manipulating a non-absorbing tray, and orient the tray vertically, the juice contained therein may leak out at the junction of the edge of the tray and the stretch-wrap film applied around the tray. In addition, the visual appearance of the blood-red juices flowing within the tray during inspection may provide a negative impression on the consumer.
In many circumstances, a package comprising a tray with a liquid absorbing pad joined to the bottom thereof will provide satisfactory results when used in the packaging of meat. However, in some instances, the absorbent tray is packaged with food product (meat for example) and immediately placed into a corrugated container for shipping. The finished tray containing the food product is placed into the corrugated shipping container at an angle greater than zero (and typically between about 45 degrees and about 70 degrees) from the horizontal in order to utilize the maximum amount of space within the corrugated shipping container. Under these conditions, trays that do not absorb food purge or juices quickly enough are unsatisfactory for such use where the finished trays are quickly placed in a shipping container at an angle. In such circumstances, some significant portion of the food purge or juices accumulate at the bottom edge of the absorbent tray as such tray rests in the shipping container.
Such a tray, which does not absorb food purge or juices quickly enough is unsatisfactory for use because during shipping (and/or prior to the contents being frozen), there is some risk that the juices will leak out of the package, causing messy and unsanitary conditions in the shipping container. Also, at such time when the package is placed in a display case for retail sale, it will have an unsatisfactory appearance. Like many consumer products, a decision to purchase a food is often made based on both visual appeal and practical considerations. Thus there is a need for a meat package, which has very rapid juice absorbing properties, and which will retain juice from meat contained therein during handling, and during transportation of the meat to the display location, the checkout/purchase counter, and to the customer's home, even when such a package is placed at an angle shortly after packaging, and at various times thereafter. To provide such a meat package, there is a need to modify the nature of the open cell absorbent pad to more quickly absorb the meat purge in a vertical or nearly vertical position.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a simple, inexpensive food package with rapid juice absorbing capability.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a simple, inexpensive food package that will retain absorbed juices when such package is placed at an angle other than horizontal.